I felt the plague of this cold coming on a week ago, but apparently didn’t take it seriously enough… It settled in with such a vengeance I spent most of my week at home, and several days with such an extreme sinus headache I couldn’t see straight. This, the week of our 18th wedding anniversary. … Quarantined Anniversary

I’m building up my keyboard habit in alignment with Neil Gaiman’s advice: In the past week, I managed 1,981 words–nearly doubling my goal, and getting me to the 72% mark of The Builders. It’s helped that it’s cold and dreary here, and we’ve continued with just the several short walks sufficient to let the dogs … Sitting at the Keyboard

I’ve been fighting my inclination to go full-snark on VDOT this week, as that shiny web application kept reporting plowing underway or completed… when, really, there were entire lanes randomly missing on major thoroughfares–and the spaces plowed meandered across the median and didn’t seem to care that cars were being encouraged to drive down the … Training My Mind

It was a different kind of week of sadness, more global, more visible, and at the same time more introspective. We lost two influential artists: first in David Bowie, who timed his goodbye album to drop two days before his death, and then barely had time to catch our collective breath before Alan Rickman passed. … Mourning Heroes, Artists

The weather has been schizophrenic this week, bouncing between almost 70s and low 20s so my lungs have been complaining to me. Odd news, like the fact that a) labiaplasties are a THING and b) that they’re one of the fastest-growing forms of plastic surgery in the English-speaking western world makes me respond with a … Changing

I was blessed with a week off in which I didn’t have to go anywhere I didn’t want to, do anything aside from rest and fun things, or spend too much time being a social butterfly. Although, for all that, the week kicked off with an annual family Christmas Eve gathering and some errands to … Sabbatical with a Side of Love

This week I read an article that outlines the severe under-representation of women in positions of power in the arts. It’s written in the style of a year-in-review, but includes some singularly disturbing stats: “Only 25% of the 178 songs in the Top 40 were sung by women, and there was only one song of … Motivation and Inspiration

The rush through to the end of the year is on, and the gatherings with colleagues, friends, and families are compounded. Luckily, for the most part, I’m blessed to know people who look past the commercial end of how the season is advertised, but I do find it fascinating that regardless of creed, as the … Season’s Greetings and Holiday Wishes

It’s startlingly easy for me to fall back into the pattern of going to bed at 3am. And therefore struggling through my work week, when I really ought to be able to easily make it into the office by 10am. But then I get another brainwave and keep poking at my stories, and before I … Refusing Normal